A nice warm sunny day induced me to stir my stumps and have a walk to and around the castle. On the way down there are now several territories of both Common whitethroat and Blackcaps, and for the first time this year a Lesser whitethroat was heard. Many tadpoles were evident in the castle moat as were a colony of Green dock beetles at the edge of the mere. I counted 18 in total.
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| Green dock beetle |
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| The castle beckons |
Down by the castle moat I noticed the delicate pink blooms of Lady's smock also known as cuckoo flower, as it tends to flower at about the same time as the cuckoo's arrival. In days gone by it was thought that the picking of it would result in a thunderstorm. It is also the main larval food plant for the Orange-tip butterfly.
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| Lady's smock or cuckoo flower |
Walking back from the castle a flash of red flew past me at speed and landed in the grass 5 metres ahead of me. After a few minutes searching I finally found a lovely Ruby Tiger moth, one of the day flying moths.
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| Ruby-tiger moth |
Another sighting of note was 2 Red deer hinds. Out of the 4 species of deer to be seen in and around the village, they are by far the rarest and most elusive.
Water droplets on a Mute swan feather
Sunset at the castle
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